Canna Employee Spotlight ►
Spotlight on
Maxwell Woods
Leading Kansas City DJ also finds fulfillment as an integral team member at CLOVR Cannabis Co .
by Rocco Scarcello , contributing writer
The strobe lights were slicing through the darkness of the club . People were visibly happy as they let loose the excess energy from another grueling week at the cubicle , job site , etc . The bass was booming , the revelers dancing and singing the words to the songs .
Until they weren ’ t .
With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic , life changed for everybody . After initially shutting down almost every aspect of business ( and life ), some industries were able to find a bit of a pivot — hosts and servers learned how to cook and run carryout , while restaurant dining rooms restricted seating , for instance , and grocery stores adapted methods to cater to the forcibly-expanding in-home grocery delivery market .
“ Honestly , it was really during the pandemic ,” Woods said of what guided him towards looking for work that would offer him a consistent paycheck but also give him the ability and flexibility to keep his music career on the up-and-up when the virus eventually settled down . “ I recognized I really needed to shift my vision as to what other ways I could do something I love while earning a living .”
Fortunately for Woods , however , it didn ’ t take him too long to find an industry to settle into — Missouri ’ s legal cannabis industry .
“ Having an affinity for cannabis ,” Woods explained , “ it was the perfect pivot — and I still love it to this day !”
While not everybody with an affinity for cannabis will pursue careers in the field for one reason or another , Woods realized how fulfilling this industry could be to him professionally and morally .
“ It was the opportunity to do something that … I couldn ’ t say no to ,” Woods said . “ For many years , the stigma behind marijuana was negative solely because we were told lies from our own government and big pharmaceutical companies that said if we consumed cannabis , it would have adverse effects when most of the scientific research now tells us that cannabis can help alleviate things that we deal with on a daily basis — whether it be for pain management , or as an herbal remedy , or just as a way to disconnect from the world without having to take prescription drugs ,” Woods explained .
While his music tastes are as diverse as one of his setlists , cannabis has been in Woods ’ life since his early teenage years , and he has never struggled to identify what strains and methods work best for him .
“ Dabs are cool , but I ’ ll be a bong or joint guy until death ,” Woods said , also mentioning that he enjoys dabs and identifying OG Kush as his favorite strain .
The future is bright for Missouri ’ s cannabis scene , according to Woods , who is the preroll production lead at CLOVR . As in most fields , however , there is still work to be done .
For workers in other industries — such as Maxwell Woods ( photo above ), a fixture in the Kansas City music scene under the stage name DJ Maxx Grüv — the pivot would be both for the shortand long-term .
“ Honestly , we have a good start going ,” Woods said , “ but I ’ d love to see more inclusion of minorities and those who were adversely affected by the cannabis laws prior to the medical and adult-use markets .”
44 JUNE 2023